US defence secretary visits Vietnam

US Defence Secretary James Mattis is due to land in Vietnam amid rising
tensions with China over trade and the South China Sea.

US Defence Secretary James Mattis will arrive in Ho Chi Minh City on his
second trip to Vietnam this year amid rising tensions with China over
trade.

Mattis, a retired Marine general and former commander of US troops in Iraq
and Afghanistan, will land in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday afternoon and Ho Chi
Minh City Communist Party boss and de-facto mayor Nguyen Thien Nhan will greet
him upon landing.

Mattis is also scheduled to visit Bien Hoa airbase on Wednesday during his
two-day trip and meet Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich.

The base, located north of Ho Chi Minh City, is the site of a US-sponsored
clean-up of Agent Orange, an herbicide used by the US during the war that has
since been blamed for hundreds of thousands of birth defects.

Mattis last visited Vietnam in January, when he held talks with Lich in
Hanoi. The trip was followed by the visit of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft
carrier in March to Da Nang.

Carl Thayer, an emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales and
an expert on south-east Asia, said Mattis was likely to discuss Agent Orange
clean-up, support for Vietnamese peacekeepers in South Sudan and Vietnam's
purchase of Russian weapons, which may run afoul of US sanctions against
Moscow.

"Vietnam will come under increased pressure to step up defence cooperation
with the United States including more frequent naval port visits," Thayer
added.

The US and Vietnam have enjoyed increasingly close relations in recent years
as both countries share concerns about Chinese maritime claims in the South
China Sea.

Mattis was to also visit Beijing during his current Asia trip, but the trip
was cancelled as the two countries' trade dispute brews.

US President Donald Trump last month slapped additional tariffs on Chinese
goods, after imposing duties on $US50 billion worth of imports earlier this
year. China has retaliated with its own duties on US imports including
soybeans, cars and aircraft.

The trip comes amid rumors from the White House that Mattis may resign.

Trump said Mattis was "a good guy" but "sort of a Democrat, if you want to
know the truth," in excerpts released ahead of an interview released Sunday on
the CBS programme 60 Minutes.

While travelling to Vietnam, Mattis denied to reporters that an exit was
imminent or that he had a rift with Trump, saying he was "on his the president's team".